The Leader’s Job

As a leader, you have a new job. The hard part for many people is recognizing that in order to do the job of a leader, you have to stop doing your old job. This is definitely a transition and not necessarily an easy one. It can be difficult because you had experience at and were really good at your old job. READ MORE  

Alliance To Strike It Rich With Their Aftermarket Jackpot

Get ready Las Vegas, because we’re going all in! The Alliance will be marching 3,000 of the industry’s best shop owners, technicians and warehouse distributors to AAPEX. Are you ready for the swarm of yellow to flood your AAPEX booths? We can’t wait!  READ MORE  

Is it Time to Add a Branch Shop?

With more than 1,000 episodes in hand, we always uncover trends early in their cycle or timeline. For a while now, one of those trends has been growing additional locations. A few forces have spurred the trend. One was/is the pandemic. READ MORE  

Ridding the Workplace of “I Don’t Knows”

What if Dorothy and Toto would have followed the red brick road instead of the yellow. Would they have made it to the Emerald City? What if Dorothy and Scarecrow veered to the left instead of taking the path on the right side of the big screen? Would there even have been a story if Toto wouldn't have bitten mean old Mrs. Gulch?  READ MORE  

A Plan To Solve the Technician Shortage

I do not believe that anyone who works in the Automotive Service and Repair Industry would argue with the fact that there is a shortage of good technicians in our industry. In fact, nine out of 10 shops that we work with today (of for that matter in our industry) need a good technician and I would also say that for 10% to 20% of those shops, the lack of a good tech is a serious problem causing them to lose customers, profits and sleep. READ MORE  

Emerging Vehicle Technologies Show No Sign of Slowing

The rate of technological expansion can be hard to wrap your head around – a number of attempts to quantify this trend simply return charts with steep inclines resembling slopes more extreme than Mount Everest. One thing is for certain – the growth is exponential and there is no sign of it slowing. READ MORE  

Consumer Demand Driving Ecommerce adoption – shaping the future of the Aftermarket

Heightened demand for the ease and convenience of the eCommerce channel is driving industry wide changes for market participants and the end-consumer. The automotive aftermarket has historically relied heavily on the brick and motor channel and was slow to adopt the online channel. READ MORE  

Battery Electric Vehicles: So Much Investment and Still So Many Questions

As I began writing this blog, I was fascinated by the strange array of issues facing the automotive aftermarket industry and the world in general. It is a unique combination of geopolitical, regulatory, safety, consumer behavior and “good ole” technology-related issues. READ MORE  

Oh, Where, Oh, Where Has All the Help Gone?

We’ve known this train has been coming for more than ten years, and it’s finally here. What train am I talking about? The technician and advisor shortage. What was once a pool of talent has become a puddle and a very small one at that. READ MORE  

The Changing Reality of Trade with China

This year marks the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s historic visit to China. That visit was followed by significant changes in the economic relationship between the United States and China with the granting of permanent normal trade relations in 2000. READ MORE